An Email to Councillor Jayne Innes & MP Geoffrey Robinson (1 Viewer)

tim07 · Jun 5, 2016

I admire the passion, but the poor judgement and countless other failings of a trading company cannot be undone by politicians.
Now if you're suggesting legislation should be drafted to remove SISU from our football club I'd be right behind you. But I think they may be the sort of people that just might challenge this in court?

Samo · Jun 5, 2016

tim07 said:
I admire the passion, but the poor judgement and countless other failings of a trading company cannot be undone by politicians.
Now if you're suggesting legislation should be drafted to remove SISU from our football club I'd be right behind you. But I think they may be the sort of people that just might challenge this in court?

No, I'm not suggesting that at all.
What I am suggesting is that the council and Wasps, stop putting obstacles in the path of our club and honour the commitment they made when ACL was sold to Wasps which was to protect the future of CCFC

tim07 · Jun 5, 2016

Hmm...., not sure I know of too many examples where a trading company have mismanaged their business to the point of near oblivion, then been bailed out by a politician asking other trading companies to provide for them.
Perhaps there's still hope for BHS?

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Samo · Jun 5, 2016

tim07 said:
Hmm...., not sure I know of too many examples where a trading company have mismanaged their business to the point of near oblivion, then been bailed out by a politician asking other trading companies to provide for them.
Perhaps there's still hope for BHS?

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So you don't think the council should honour their commitment?
And if you really want an example, how about ACL who were bailed out by the council themselves

Deleted member 5849 · Jun 5, 2016

Samo said:
No, I'm not suggesting that at all.
What I am suggesting is that the council and Wasps, stop putting obstacles in the path of our club and honour the commitment they made when ACL was sold to Wasps which was to protect the future of CCFC

What I find baffling in all this is that in no way does any of what you say preclude other narratives elsewhere.

chiefdave · Jun 5, 2016

tim07 said:
not sure I know of too many examples where a trading company have mismanaged their business to the point of near oblivion, then been bailed out by a politician asking other trading companies to provide for them.

Have you forgotten the banking crisis? Except it was the taxpayer rather than another company that had to bail them out!

Samo · Jun 5, 2016

Deleted member 5849 said:
What I find baffling in all this is that in no way does any of what you say preclude other narratives elsewhere.

I'm not really following you on this NW?

Deleted member 5849 · Jun 5, 2016

Samo said:
I'm not really following you on this NW?

People seem to be arguing against what you've written, because something else happens elsewhere.

a doesn't stop b being b

Samo · Jun 5, 2016

Got ya! Yes it is odd isn't it? I think people are just entrenched in their position and that colours their interpretation of any point or suggestion

eastwoodsdustman · Jun 5, 2016

Only thing I'd say about the letter is that Robinson will most certainly not want to be involved in anything on case any skeletons are uncovered. He was complicit with the whole mess in the first place.

Samo · Jun 5, 2016

eastwoodsdustman said:
Only thing I'd say about the letter is that Robinson will most certainly not want to be involved in anything on case any skeletons are uncovered. He was complicit with the whole mess in the first place.

All the more reason he should want the whole thing resolved and forgotten

Grendel · Jun 5, 2016

tim07 said:
Hmm...., not sure I know of too many examples where a trading company have mismanaged their business to the point of near oblivion, then been bailed out by a politician asking other trading companies to provide for them.
Perhaps there's still hope for BHS?

Sent from my SGP611 using Tapatalk

Plenty of examples of local authorities bailing out football clubs though with use of public funds.

James Smith · Jun 5, 2016

Deleted member 5849 said:
Help!

You can't just nick the famous RFC line.

Captain Dart · Jun 5, 2016

Grendel said:
Plenty of examples of local authorities bailing out football clubs though with use of public funds.

So in this case you want state aid?

tim07 · Jun 6, 2016

I think you have to bear in mind that the council was a stakeholder in ACL as a direct result of the funding required to make up the shortfall in original construction costs. It would of course have been the intention at the time to sell this at market value to the owner/3rd party investor as and when.
The Council could not GIVE that stake away, they are obliged to get the best deal they can obo council tax payers.
There's only one party to blame for this going belly up, it's the hard nosed, bullying tough enterprise that 'slaughter people in court'.
As a business plan it's rubbish. As is the phantasy that they will build their own stadium/academy in an adjoining Borough, or will 'develop' BPA.

It's all total BS. They are dreadful owners, dishonest and untrustworthy and no-one in their right minds would deal with them. So another court case is the only show in town, there is no plan B.
The double whammy of the potential loss of cat 2 status academy only goes to show what an utter dogpile they have made of this....as if anyone needed any other evidence.
In the meantime our football club continues to rack up £1.4m pound of debt in interest alone that is owed to its owners.
When the academy is no longer able to supply the players for sale to service this debt (it becomes due next year!), we can expect a fire sale as they wind the club up.
Now tell us again why the city council (or anyone else), should build them a ground, or instruct innocent 3rd parties NOT to attract investment/develop facilities that are funded by fit and proper business organisations?

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SkyBlueZack · Jun 6, 2016

Fit and proper business organisations? Care to let us know who they are?

asiaskyblues · Jun 6, 2016

Samo said:
For what it's worth. It made me feel better to write it anyway!
I would say this though; one letter is easy to ignore, thousands are less so.

Dear Cllr Jayne Innes and Mr Geoffrey Robinson MP,

I am a lifelong supporter of Coventry City Football Club and a member of the Labour Party. I am writing to you to implore you to intervene in the current situation regarding CCFC in any way possible to help avert the seemingly inevitable demise of a much loved community asset; our football club.

I will not bore you by going over well trodden ground in what has been a long and bitter saga from which nobody involved has emerged with any credit. But I would ask you to consider that SISU will not be the owners of CCFC forever but the damage sustained by the club at this time may well be long lasting if not terminal. I fully understand that Coventry City Council's attitude to SISU may not be the warmest and I am no fan of our current owners myself. However, CCFC need help and they need it now. I would implore everyone who has any involvement or influence in these matters to see the bigger picture; SISU are not the club and with the right help and support the club can still be here long after SISU have departed.

I am starting to hear rumblings of Coventry becoming a 'City of Rugby' and this saddens me greatly. I have nothing against the sport of Rugby of course but football has always been the sport of ordinary working people and as members of the Labour Party with our socialist roots, shouldn't we all be doing everything in our power to ensure the survival and prosperity of the football club that bears our city's name?

I understand that this involves business matters into which you cannot and should not interfere and I do not ask for that. I am asking that you do everything within your power and influence to ensure that there is a favourable outcome for our football club and that it's Academy's future can be assured along with a stable and financially viable home for the club, whether that be at a new stadium or at the Ricoh Arena. I believe that there was a commitment made by Coventry City Council that the sale of ACL to Wasps would not be approved unless certain tests were satisfied. One of those tests was; 'the security and future of Coventry City Football Club'. All I am asking is that this commitment should be fully, actively and robustly pursued.

Please do not underestimate the passion CCFC supporters have for their club and the pain and anger that we have experienced in recent years. Not every supporter turns up week in week out, especially when things are not going well but I can assure you that this club has a special place in the hearts of tens of thousands of Coventrians. The club needs your help and we need your help, so please... persuade, cajole, mediate, facilitate and do anything your position will allow to help us secure the future of our beloved football club before it is too late.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

I know the feeling Samo about 'it made me feel better', that is the beauty of writing. Unfortunately this site only reaches a few hundred at most so why don't you contact the CT. I am not one of Simon's fans but he would be interested in this. ALSO well done for acting on something. It's a shame the rest of the city aren't like you

chiefdave · Jun 6, 2016

tim07 said:
The Council could not GIVE that stake away, they are obliged to get the best deal they can obo council tax payers.

Presumably then you believe SISU have a very strong case with JR2.

olderskyblue · Jun 6, 2016

asiaskyblues said:
I know the feeling Samo about 'it made me feel better', that is the beauty of writing. Unfortunately this site only reaches a few hundred at most so why don't you contact the CT. I am not one of Simon's fans but he would be interested in this. ALSO well done for acting on something. It's a shame the rest of the city aren't like you

Simon has fans??

asiaskyblues · Jun 6, 2016

olderskyblue said:
Simon has fans??

Simon is a 'tryer'. I think we can use the CET to get what we want. Why have negativity if we want to save our club?

fernandopartridge · Jun 6, 2016

tim07 said:
Hmm...., not sure I know of too many examples where a trading company have mismanaged their business to the point of near oblivion, then been bailed out by a politician asking other trading companies to provide for them.
Perhaps there's still hope for BHS?

Sent from my SGP611 using Tapatalk

What about Arena Coventry Limited? They just went to ask the council to bail them out directly mind.

tim07 · Jun 6, 2016

SkyBlueZack said:
Fit and proper business organisations? Care to let us know who they are?

Coventry Sports Trust, Wasps?

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tim07 · Jun 6, 2016

chiefdave said:
Presumably then you believe SISU have a very strong case with JR2.

They have no case whatsoever

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Skyblueweeman · Jun 6, 2016

tim07 said:
Wasps?

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I take it we're not talking about ethically?

torchomatic · Jun 6, 2016

tim07 said:
Coventry Sports Trust, Wasps?

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Wasps? What's fit and proper in moving your team 85 miles on a permanent basis despite having the option of going back to London, their natural home?

There was a chance for Wasps to return near to where they were born and bred, but they decided against it. A Centre of Sports Excellence is being planned for Borehamwood, about 10 miles north of Wasps' old home (now a housing estate) in Sudbury, near Wembley.

The Premiership club were invited in as partners by the landowners, Legal & General, and the local Hertsmere Borough Council, with a 15,000-seater stadium worth £22 million and a hotel on site for added revenue. But Wasps wanted to own and control it. End of deal.

chiefdave · Jun 6, 2016

torchomatic said:
Wasps? What's fit and proper in moving your team 85 miles on a permanent basis despite having the option of going back to London, their natural home?

I don't see why Wasps are held up as a shining beacon of how to run a business. Even if you discount the move they were on the brink of going bust. and they now have masses of debt.

torchomatic · Jun 6, 2016

chiefdave said:
I don't see why Wasps are held up as a shining beacon of how to run a business. Even if you discount the move they were on the brink of going bust. and they now have masses of debt.

No, nor me. It really confuses me why Wasps are so lauded when they are, if anything, worse than SISU.

torchomatic · Jun 6, 2016

The full Independent article is always worth a read:

There was a chance for Wasps to return near to where they were born and bred, but they decided against it. A Centre of Sports Excellence is being planned for Borehamwood, about 10 miles north of Wasps' old home (now a housing estate) in Sudbury, near Wembley.

The Premiership club were invited in as partners by the landowners, Legal & General, and the local Hertsmere Borough Council, with a 15,000-seater stadium worth £22 million and a hotel on site for added revenue. But Wasps wanted to own and control it. End of deal.

Another option was to continue ground-sharing with a football club, as Wasps and half-a-dozen others have done since rugby's Year Zero of 1995, when the sport went open and a little old clubhouse and homely single grandstand wouldn't cut it for a "customer experience".

Among the many sports clubs jockeying for position around London, in some of the world's most expensive real estate, Brentford FC have a stadium planned near Chiswick. Again, Wasps could not see the point. They wanted a better business plan.

So Wasps are off to Coventry, led by two men who have been involved with the club for barely two years: Derek Richardson, the Irish owner, and Nick Eastwood, the former Rugby Football Union financial director, who is chief executive.

There is another Wasps, of course – the amateur rugby club based in Acton, west London, who are already looking for new tenants to use the training facilities currently being rented by the professionals. For the avoidance of confusion, let's call the amateurs Wasps and the professionals Pro Wasps.

Eastwood has spent the week explaining the decision, unapologetically after the fact. Richardson, who is said to dislike the limelight, has yet to present himself to the press; perhaps he will do so when Leinster, where his rugby heart is said to lie, visit Coventry in January. Even though Pro Wasps are taking on a £13.4m loan at the Ricoh Arena to add to their existing losses, and they will need to spend on training facilities, marketing and the playing squad, they are confident in their gamble.

It is a trifecta based on rising TV revenues, a crowd ready and waiting in the Coventry area, and ancillary revenue streams at the Arena making the whole thing workable. In this Sky Blue thinking, Eastwood is predicting to break even in "three or four years".

If it comes across as ad hoc – Pro Wasps' first match at Coventry is in mid-December – then it is only in keeping with the knee-jerk nature of English rugby. Year Zero 1995 was when a coherent plan for the professional game might have been made. All we got was a mad rush to jam as many competitions into the season as possible – and if the players are smashed to smithereens, make sure there are doctors at every match to pick up the pieces.

The Rugby Football Union favour light-touch regulation. Nominally the governing body, the RFU describe the Premiership clubs as "independent". They have had nothing to say on the Coventry move other than to confirm, if anyone asked, that as long as Pro Wasps keep their academy licence in the London area, they are not flouting the regulation designed to stop a club being bought in one place and parachuted into another, treading on others' toes and avoiding the tedious hard work of fighting upwards through the leagues.

So while Pro Wasps move to Coventry, we have Pro London Welsh playing in Oxford with very few Welshmen, and Pro London Irish, similarly, employing a cosmopolitan squad in Reading. There is no Premiership club in the rugby hotbed of Cornwall; Pro Sale Sharks have lost supporters, not gained them, by moving 20 miles from Stockport to Salford, but still they strive with a vision of representing the North-west. In Leeds, we have Yorkshire Carnegie: a club or a county?

English rugby is what you might call an unplanned economy, but perhaps we should take solace in it reflecting the glory of the game itself, forever teetering between the ordered and the chaotic

Skyblueweeman · Jun 6, 2016

torchomatic said:
The full Independent article is always worth a read:

There was a chance for Wasps to return near to where they were born and bred, but they decided against it. A Centre of Sports Excellence is being planned for Borehamwood, about 10 miles north of Wasps' old home (now a housing estate) in Sudbury, near Wembley.

The Premiership club were invited in as partners by the landowners, Legal & General, and the local Hertsmere Borough Council, with a 15,000-seater stadium worth £22 million and a hotel on site for added revenue. But Wasps wanted to own and control it. End of deal.

Another option was to continue ground-sharing with a football club, as Wasps and half-a-dozen others have done since rugby's Year Zero of 1995, when the sport went open and a little old clubhouse and homely single grandstand wouldn't cut it for a "customer experience".

Among the many sports clubs jockeying for position around London, in some of the world's most expensive real estate, Brentford FC have a stadium planned near Chiswick. Again, Wasps could not see the point. They wanted a better business plan.

So Wasps are off to Coventry, led by two men who have been involved with the club for barely two years: Derek Richardson, the Irish owner, and Nick Eastwood, the former Rugby Football Union financial director, who is chief executive.

There is another Wasps, of course – the amateur rugby club based in Acton, west London, who are already looking for new tenants to use the training facilities currently being rented by the professionals. For the avoidance of confusion, let's call the amateurs Wasps and the professionals Pro Wasps.

Eastwood has spent the week explaining the decision, unapologetically after the fact. Richardson, who is said to dislike the limelight, has yet to present himself to the press; perhaps he will do so when Leinster, where his rugby heart is said to lie, visit Coventry in January. Even though Pro Wasps are taking on a £13.4m loan at the Ricoh Arena to add to their existing losses, and they will need to spend on training facilities, marketing and the playing squad, they are confident in their gamble.

It is a trifecta based on rising TV revenues, a crowd ready and waiting in the Coventry area, and ancillary revenue streams at the Arena making the whole thing workable. In this Sky Blue thinking, Eastwood is predicting to break even in "three or four years".

If it comes across as ad hoc – Pro Wasps' first match at Coventry is in mid-December – then it is only in keeping with the knee-jerk nature of English rugby. Year Zero 1995 was when a coherent plan for the professional game might have been made. All we got was a mad rush to jam as many competitions into the season as possible – and if the players are smashed to smithereens, make sure there are doctors at every match to pick up the pieces.

The Rugby Football Union favour light-touch regulation. Nominally the governing body, the RFU describe the Premiership clubs as "independent". They have had nothing to say on the Coventry move other than to confirm, if anyone asked, that as long as Pro Wasps keep their academy licence in the London area, they are not flouting the regulation designed to stop a club being bought in one place and parachuted into another, treading on others' toes and avoiding the tedious hard work of fighting upwards through the leagues.

So while Pro Wasps move to Coventry, we have Pro London Welsh playing in Oxford with very few Welshmen, and Pro London Irish, similarly, employing a cosmopolitan squad in Reading. There is no Premiership club in the rugby hotbed of Cornwall; Pro Sale Sharks have lost supporters, not gained them, by moving 20 miles from Stockport to Salford, but still they strive with a vision of representing the North-west. In Leeds, we have Yorkshire Carnegie: a club or a county?

English rugby is what you might call an unplanned economy, but perhaps we should take solace in it reflecting the glory of the game itself, forever teetering between the ordered and the chaotic

Interesting bold bit there Torch. I wonder if the RFU will say anything now? It's not as if they've treaded on anyones toes. Oh....hang on.....

I have a feeling it'll be brushed under the carpet though.

Deleted member 5849 · Jun 6, 2016

torchomatic said:
Richardson, who is said to dislike the limelight

More and more in common with our owner...

torchomatic · Jun 6, 2016

Skyblueweeman said:
Interesting bold bit there Torch. I wonder if the RFU will say anything now? It's not as if they've treaded on anyones toes. Oh....hang on.....

I have a feeling it'll be brushed under the carpet though.

Lucas is lifting the carpet whilst the new leader uses the broom.

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Samo · Jun 6, 2016

asiaskyblues said:
I know the feeling Samo about 'it made me feel better', that is the beauty of writing. Unfortunately this site only reaches a few hundred at most so why don't you contact the CT. I am not one of Simon's fans but he would be interested in this. ALSO well done for acting on something. It's a shame the rest of the city aren't like you

Thanks ASB, my intention was only to show fellow posters what I had sent in the hope that others might follow suit. I know that exposure on here is limited. You think I should send it to the CT?

tim07 · Jun 6, 2016

So they opted for a better, cheaper option, put their cards on the table and collected a bargain. What a shame your favouritr

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Skyblueweeman · Jun 6, 2016

tim07 said:
So they opted for a better, cheaper option, put their cards on the table and collected a bargain. What a shame your favouritr

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Cool story bro....

Samo · Jun 6, 2016

tim07 said:
So they opted for a better, cheaper option, put their cards on the table and collected a bargain. What a shame your favouritr

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Did you drop your phone down the lavatory?

An Email to Councillor Jayne Innes & MP Geoffrey Robinson (1 Viewer)

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